National Real Bread Maker Week

National Real Bread Maker Week
1st – 9th May 2010

National Real Bread Maker Week will return in 2011. If you'd like to get involved, please email us.

Is your kitchen cupboard home to one of Britain’s estimated 10 million unused bread machines?

If so, the first ever National Real Bread Maker Week is the time to dig it out and use it to bake Real Bread or pass it on to someone who will.

A bread machine allows anyone who might not otherwise bake at home to seize control and make genuinely fresh, genuinely good value Real Bread with ingredients of their choice.

If you have passed on or picked up a bread machine this week, get along to the National Real Bread Maker Week group on Facebook to tell us.

Events and activities

As well as the online chat and virtual sharing networks helping to pass on bread machines, here are just some of the events and activities that took place out in the real world during National Real Bread Maker Week 2010.

Special offer
Nationwide (online)

26th April - 9th May
To celebrate National Real Bread Maker Week, Real Bread Campaign member Doves Farm is offering 10% off online purchases of the organic wholemeal flour.

For more information visit www.dovesfarm.co.uk

“Use Your Loaf” Pop Up Café
Goldsmiths Community Centre, Castillon Road, London, SE6 1QD

6th May 1-7pm
The “Use Your Loaf” Pop Up Café invites visitors to taste some different breads, have a cup of tea and try their hand at bread making, either by hand or in a breadmaker. We are making bread in flower pots, pizzas, monster sandwiches and delicious Finnish plaits. There will be something for everyone and everyone is invited to “pop in” and join in the fun! No charge for entry or for making or tasting the breads - there is a small charge for other refreshments such as tea, coffee and cakes.

For more information visit www.goldsmithscommunitycentre.info

The Real Food Festival
Earl's Court Exhibition Centre, London

7th - 9th May
A festival within a festival, this year’s Real Food Festival will feature a trail of Real Breadcrumbs. As part of this, all weekend the Real Bread Campaign stand will be operating a bread machine swap shop - if you have a working machine you no longer want, bring it along and we'll pass it on to someone who does.

For more information on the festival, visit http://www.realfoodfestival.co.uk/

Simply Kneaded
Hexham Farmers' Market, Hexham, Northumberland

Staurday 8th May
Local kids (12 and under) are invited to bring their home baked loaves along for judging by Andrew Whitley, who will pick the best loaves made by hand and in a machine. He will also be giving bread making tips to the kids.

For more information, please visit http://www.hexhamfarmersmarket.co.uk/news.html or email info@simplykneaded.co.uk

National Mills Weekend
Nationwide

8th & 9th May
As part of the annual National Mills Weekend open weekend, traditional wind and water mills around the country will be inviting visitors to a variety of bread machine related activities to celebrate using locally produced ingredients.

As we learn which mills will be participating in National Real Bread Maker Week, their details will appear below.

For more information on the weekend, visit http://www.nationalmillsweekend.co.uk/

The Watermill
Little Salkeld, Penrith, Cumbria. CA10 1NN

Saturday 8th May (11am) and Sunday 9th May (12pm)
Free bread machine demos. Henk will be showing you how to get the best from The Watermill’s organic and biodynamic stoneground flours using a bread machine. The mill produces twelve different flours, most of which work with a machine, but, to get the best results, you may need to tweak your recipe a little. There’s no charge, but we can only fit in 10 people for each demonstration session, so please book in advance by phone or email. The machine baking cycle takes a couple of hours, so you will have time for a coffee, a tour of the mill, or a walk to Long Meg Stone Circle if you’re feeling energetic and it’s a nice sunny day !

For more information visit www.organicmill.co.uk or call 01768 881047

Felin Ganol
Llanrhystud, Ceredigion, SY23 5AL Wales

Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th May
Quite a few of our customers use our flour in their bread machines so we thought this would be an ideal opportunity get together informally to share tips, recipes, and our bread! around lunchtime on each day (between milling demonstrations). Hopefully the weather will be good and we can have a picnic by the mill wheel.

For more information visit www.felinganol.co.uk.

Cranbrook Union Windmill
The Hill, Cranbrook, Kent, TN17 3AH

Sunday 9th May
Cranbrook Union Windmill will be hosting a Flour Show for home bakers. Entries are invited in a number of categories for adults and kids, including both hand and machine baked loaves. Entries to be delivered to the Russell Building (behind the Windmill ) with 50p entry fee (except for under 12s) from 11:00am till noon. Judging will start at 1:00pm. Public Viewing from 2:30pm.

For the entry form or more details, visit http://www.unionmill.org.uk/bread.htm or email bread@unionmill.org.uk

Mill Green Museum
Hatfield, AL9 5PD

Sunday 9th May
As part of their packed National Mills Weekend schedule, Mill green is invited anyone with an unloved bread machine to bring it along to pass or sell to a good home. Activities also include a home made bread competition, watching a working water mill in action, a family picnic and more traditional crafts.

For more information or to download the baking competiton entry form (to be returned by 5th May) visit www.welhat.gov.uk/museum or email museum@welhat.gov.uk

Sharpham Park
Sharpham Park Shop, Kilver Court, Shepton Mallet

Sunday 9th May
Sharpham Park are giving away a free 1kg bag of their Organic Spelt flour to anyone that enters the Bread Machine Baking Competition that will be judged at the Feastival Local Producers Market on Sunday 9th May. Bread, pizzas, cakes – all entries accepted and the judging will be carried out by the experts from Sharpham Park at 12pm. The prize will be a delicious Sharpham Park hamper, annual garden membership to Kilver Court Gardens and their recipe featuring on the brand new Sharpham Park website which is due to be launched that week.

Just pick up your entry form from the Sharpham Park Shop of from www.kilvercourt.com

Get involved

National Real Bread Maker Week is all about YOU!

Do you have an idea for an event for National Real Bread Maker Week 2011? Perhaps you could involve a local community group such as your:

WI
Scout or guide troop
Office
Local school
Farmers' market
Community shop
Sharing network
Slow Food convivium

Ideas

bread machine loaf picnic
best bread machine loaf competition
get together to share tips and recipes, preferably using locally produced ingredients
set up a group or event to help find new homes for second-hand bread machines

If you would like us to help you let others know about your event please drop a note on the wall of the National Real Bread Maker Week page on Facebook or send us an email.

Sharing

If you would like to share your Real Bread recipes, stories, tips, pictures, or event ideas with others then please join the National Real Bread Maker Week group on Facebook.

Want to get hold or rid of a bread machine? During National Real Bread Maker Week, here are a few organisations that will help you to pass it on:

Freecycle
Freecycle helps people who have things they no longer need to give them away to people who do need them and in the process keeps many useful items from filling up our landfill sites. To request or offer a bread maker go to www.freecycle.org and join your local group.

Freegle
Freegle is an email list hosted on Yahoo! Groups that allows you to give stuff away when you need to get rid of it but don’t want to throw it in the bin. Or save something from landfill by asking for it; perhaps someone has just what you need that they were about to throw away. To see how you can pick up or pass on a bread machine, visit www.ilovefreegle.org

Let's All Share
To find bread machines being offered, simply type 'breadmakers' into the search bar and they will be displayed on a map so you can see the breadmaker nearest to you. If you want to give away or rent out your breadmaker, you just need to set the rules about renting or giving, delivery or collection as required and publish it to the breadmakers category. www.letsallshare.com

ooffoo
On ooffoo you can reuse, recycle, swap, sell, give away, write & blog, vote, debate & discuss their latest hot topic, find recipes & useful eco tips and much more. To add a free classified ad for a machine you want to pass on, visit www.ooffoo.com

If you would like to get your organisation involved in finding new homes for second-hand bread machines, please let us know.

Click here for some more ideas on how to pass it on.

Recipes

We are working on finding and creating recipes but really want this to be an opportunity for home bakers to share their recipes and tips with others around the country.

To start you off, here are a couple: basic Real Bread for your breadmaker by Andrew Whitley and some new adventures in sourdough

if you have your own recipe, please add it to the wall in the National Real Bread Maker group on Facebook. We're especially keen on hearing from anyone who's had success at making genuine sourdough in a bread machine.

Links

Here are some of our friends who have said they're joining in the fun so far:

The Real Food Festival
Society for the Protection of Ancient Building (mills section)
The Traditional Corn Millers Guild
Freecyle
Lets All Share
Freegle
Doves Farm
ooffoo

If you'd like to join in, please get in touch: the more the merrier